I’m an independent aviation safety consultant and Adjunct Professor at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology and regular monthly columnist for four aviation trade publications. I was a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board and airline mechanic for more than 30 years and was also the first and only aviation mechanic to ever serve as a Board Member. I co-authored two text books (Safety Management Systems in Aviation, Ashgate Publishing 2009 and Implementation of Safety Management Systems in Aviation, Ashgate Publishing 2011).

Nine Holiday Flying Tips For Frequent And Not-So-Frequent Fliers

Flying to visit family is one of the rituals of the holiday season. With families spread out across the country and even the globe, how you handle the aviation component of your journey can make or break these visits. Around the holidays, with oversold flights on many routes and overhead bin space at a premium, a few tips from my 40 years of working for the airlines and flying weekly – even daily sometimes – may help take some of the stress out of your trip.

If you have Global Entry or TSA Precheck, don’t forget to update your frequent flier profile. If your trusted traveler number isn’t in the airline’s system, you won’t be able to use the TSA PreCheck lanes at security. Many airlines are now printing boarding passes with TSA PreCheck on them. (If your boarding pass doesn’t say TSA PreCheck, chances are that you will not be able to use the TSA precheck line – don’t argue with the TSA agents at the airport, it will just delay you and everyone else behind you.) TSA Precheck is now available on nine airlines — Alaska Airlines, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, United, USAirways and VirginAmerica — at over 100 airports around the country.

If you use the TSA Precheck lines know the benefits, so you don’t defeat the whole point of the special lines by say, slowing the line by taking off your belt and shoes or removing your light jacket. Or pulling out your laptop.

It’s too late to get Global Entry or TSA Precheck for this season’s holiday travel, but it’s not too late to sign up for an airline’s frequent flier program even if you’ve already bought your tickets. This may seem obvious to people who plan to fly the airline more than once a year, but a surprising number of travelers I’ve met over the years say they don’t bother because they’ll never fly enough flights to make it worthwhile. Even travelers with elite status on one airline often don’t sign up for the frequent flier program of an airline they don’t usually fly. But this is a mistake for two reasons: signing up for an airline’s frequent flier program may (it’s not a guarantee) avoid your being singled out for secondary screening at security. Secondary screening can take even longer during peak holiday travel times. The other advantage of signing up for a frequent flier program is being able to check off status updates from the airline so that if you have a gate change or the flight is delayed you can be notified.

Give the airline your cell phone and email address. Sometimes text messages get through when email doesn’t and vice versa. If you want to be sure of getting flight status updates, give the airline both ways to contact you.

If you’re not an elite traveler, plan to check your carry-on bag, unless it’s small enough to fit under the seat in front of you. With over-full flights and elite travelers boarding first, chances are that the further down the queue you board, the more likely that you will have to gate check even your carry-on bag. Once the overhead bins are full, flight attendants will require bags that don’t fit under the seat in front of you to be checked. To avoid delaying the flight, make sure you’ve packed medicines, ID and other valuables in a purse or bag small enough to fit under the seat.

If you don’t get a seat assignment when you book, it’s likely that your flight is oversold. Make sure to check in online as early as possible to get a seat. Passengers with unconfirmed seat assignments are usually bumped first, if there are not enough volunteers for an oversold flight.

If bad weather threatens your route of travel and airlines are offering free re-scheduling, take them up on it and leave before the storm. A storm can result in cancellations and delays beyond the actual weather system. That’s because airlines fly their planes out of the storm’s predicted path and getting them back on track takes time, sometimes days. To avoid ruining your vacation, leave early, if at all possible. And if the whole family can’t leave early, then consider splitting up. It’s easier for an airline to rebook one or two people than a family of five.

It may seem obvious but allow plenty of time to get to the airport, through security and to your gate. Missing a flight when flights are booked to capacity and beyond may make it difficult for the airline to get you to your destination in time for Christmas.

Lastly, if your flight is cancelled, or you miss your flight, and the airline isn’t offering a booking that will get you to your holiday destination on time, consider renting a car and driving, especially if your trip is under 400 miles and weather conditions are acceptable.

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